6 tips to run company meetings like a true leader

Effective meetings help businesses stay on top of things and strategize their growth. Sadly, not every employee meeting we’ve been to is productive. Even when the meeting is important, it can be mindlessly boring, making employees reluctant to give the speaker their full attention. Whenever you plan and lead meetings, you must first consider the participants. What can you do to make their experience a good one?

1. Decide whether the meeting really needs to happen

Have you seen those memes saying, “This meeting could have been an email”? There’s a reason behind those memes. While it may feel better to discuss some things in a boardroom together, there are instances where an email would suffice to convey the message. If you have a minor update to deliver, a status update to make, a general housekeeping message to send, or provide feedback to an employee, an email is enough. But if you want to have a project planning, goal setting, decision-making, creative brainstorming, problem-solving, or workflow mapping session, a meeting is needed.

2. Select the attendees carefully

Do you really need everyone from the sales department including the new intern that just arrived yesterday to be present for this meeting? Inviting the wrong people or too many people to your meeting will not only make the meeting inefficient, but it will also drop the productivity of your business. Make a list of the people you really need to be there for the meeting.

3. Decide on your method of data sharing

Do you need a screen and projector or would a whiteboard suffice for the meeting? Decide what kind of technology your meeting will need. If you are sharing a presentation, you will need the appropriate technology. If the meeting involves going through a report, you don’t need to allocate many tech resources for it. Also, consider the learning style of the participants. If there are more audio or visual learners, you would have to design the meeting accordingly.

4. Assign pre-work to participants

Do your team members always attend meetings without having a clue about what’s going to be discussed that day? Then, it is time for you to draft an email, highlighting the areas you will be touching during the meeting. Create a meeting agenda and ask participants to chip in with their ideas, solutions, and suggestions. You can even attach a report/document for them to go through before attending the meeting.

5. Select the right day and time for your meeting

Don’t select 4:30 pm on a Friday afternoon for your meeting and be annoyed when everyone is glued to their wristwatches. In most companies, employees use Mondays and Fridays for organization and catch-up. Having your meeting on a Tuesday, Wednesday, or Thursday will increase productivity. If the meeting is a brainstorming session, strategy meetup, or creative input session, select morning hours.

6. Don’t let your meeting drag on

It is normal for employees to have short attention spans. We are only human after all. Your employees have a lot of tasks to complete and places to get to. Unless there is something pressing to be discussed, don’t let your meeting go on for too long. A 30-minute meeting is an ideal limit for most organizations. If you must go longer, try to keep it under 60 minutes to retain the efficiency of your employees.